Type-writing machine.



H. H. STEELE.

TYPE WRITING MAGHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1909,

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

INVENTUR:

WITNESEE5= ing the parts in different positions.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT H. STEELE, OF MABCELLUS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE MONARCH TYPE-WRITER COMPANY. OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

Application filed November 29, 1909. Serial No. 530,394.

To all whom it may concern:

citizen of the United States, and resident of Marcellus, in the countyof Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Type-' Writing Ma chines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to typewriting machines and more particularly tomeans for feeding a plurality of separate cards or tags to be writtenupon.

Tags are variously marked depending on their use. Sometimes they onlyhave the cost and selling prices, sometimes they have in addition thenumber of the goods; and sometimes several discount figures. It isdesirable to have these different marks on different lines on the tags,ordinarily from one to eight different lines being employed, dependingon the size and use of the tags.

The main object of my invention is to provide simple and efficient meansfor holding and feeding a plurality of tags so that a plurality ofdifferent lines may be written on each tag, and so that separate tagsmay be easily handled and quickly typewritten.

To the above and other ends which willhereinafter appear, my inventionconsists in the features of construction, arrangements of parts andcombinations of devices to be hereinafter described and particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an end view partly in sectionofa carriage embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a like view of the samewith some of the parts shown in Fig. 1 omitted; Figs. 1 and 2 show- Fig.3 is a front elevation partly in section of a carriage equipped withdevices embodying my invention. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on a lineww of Fig. 1.

I have shown my invention embodied in the present instance in a Monarchtypewriting machine stripped of the usual paper feeding devices employedin such machines. It should be understood, however, that the inventionmay be embodied in various styles of machines employing rotativeplatens.

Fixed carriage rails 1 are supported on the top plate of the machine inthe usual manner in which said rails are supported 'in the Monarchmachine. These rails are oppositely grooved to receive anti-friction:rollers 2 which are likewise received in opposite-1y grooved rails 3 ofa rear guide bar 4 which constitutes a rear crossbar of the carriage.End or side bars 5 are connected to the guide bar 4.- and receive inbearings therein a platen shaft 6 which sup orts a cylindrical platen 7against the ront face of which upwardly and rearwardly moving type bars8 are adapted to strike. For the purposes of my present invention theusual paper feeding devices employed on the Monarch machine may beeliminated although the lirie spacing mechanism, etc. may be employed.Thus the usual line spacing wheel 9 is fixed to the platen. A pawl 10cooperates therewith, the pawl bein actuated in the usual manner by afinger lece 11, by

which a rock shaft 12 is turne to move a crank arm 13 on the rock shaftand thus actuate the line spacing pawl. upright members 14 on the platenframe or carriage are slightl modified to receive headed screws 15 whlchare adapted to turn in hearings in the upper portions of the members14:. These screws'are threaded into tapped holes in the ends of a crossbar or rod 16, so as to connect the rod to the bea ring portions. Therod 16 takes the place 0:? the usual fixed rod of the Monarch machinewhich constitutes a support for certain of the paper feeding devices.The present construction is such that when the screws 15 are loosenedthe rod 16 may be turned to different positions and may then bere-secured against movement in its adjusted position by turning in thescrews 15 to clamp the rod 16 between members 14 of the pl aten frame.Hubs 17 are mounted to turn freely on the rod 16 near each end of the plLtBIl. These hubs are provided with forwardly extending arms 18connected at their free ends by a cross bar or rod 19 which extendsthroughout the length of the platen and which is adapted to bear againstthe platen above the printing line which is indicated by the dotted linea. A coiled spring 18 surrounds the rod 16 near each end thereof, andone end of each spring is connected to the rod 16 by passing into a holetherein, while the opposite end of each spring is connected to theassociate arm 18. The pressure of these springs is exerted to force thearms 18 to turn on the rod 16 and press the rod 19 with a springpressure against the face of the platen. This pressure may be regulatedby adjusting the rod 16 in the manner previously explained. A fingerpiece 18 is formed on each of the arms 18 whereby the spring-pressedbail, formed .ofthe rod 19 and-arms 18, may be swung on its supportingrod 16 so that the rod 19 may, when desired, be moved away from the faceof the platen.

A card or tag clamp which may be of any suitable construction isconnected to rotate with the platen. In the present instance the cardclamp shown is similar to that disclosed inmy application No. 476,653filed February 8th, 1909 and comprises a metal clamping plate 20 curvedto conform to the curvature of the platen and provided with an off-setfoot'piece 21 at one end thereof,

which foot piece is bifurcated to cooperate with a headed pin 22 securedto the platen outside of-the Working surface thereof. The opposite endof the clamping strip is provided with a like off-set foot piece 23,which, however, need not be bifurcated like the foot piece 21. Asegmental locking piece 24 is pivoted at its ends on headed screws- 25-t0 the right-hand end portion of the platen, beyond the working fieldthereof. This segmental locking member or bail 24 is adapted to be swunginto and out of engagement with the member 23 on the clamping strip 20in order to hold the clamping strip operativeposition or to afford aready removal thereof when desired. From an inspection of Figs. 1 and 2it will be seen that the opposite longitudinal edges of the clampingstrip are undercut as indicated at 26 to provide long pocket.

like openings between the surface of the platen and the clamping strip.Inthepresentinstance the uppermost pocket 26 alone is employed and thisis adapted to receivethe-bottom edges of a plurallty of separate tags orcards 27 as indicated in the drawings, and when said tags or cardsareseated in place in the manner shown they are clampedto andconnected withthe platen to rotate therewith.- Tags .27 may be placed in position in asingle row longitudinally of the platen, inthe-manner shown, and theouter face of the tag plate or clamp 20 is preferably provided withindex marks 28 to indicate the positions of the tags, each tagbeing-received between or registering with an adjacent pair of indexmarks, p

A disk 29 is detachably'and adjustably secured to the right-hand end ofthe platen by screws 30 which pass through segmental slots 31 in thedisk, said slots being concentric with the axis of the platen. Thescrews 30 are received at their threaded ends in tapped openings in theplaten head. By loosening the screws 30 a rotative adjustment of thedisk 29 on the platen is afforded and the disk may be secured in itsadjusted position on the platen by tightening the screws 30 and thusbinding the disk in place. The disk 29 is provided with two stops 32 and33 which, as shown in Fig. 3, are off-set from the body of the disk andare adapted to cooperate with the rod 16, which constitutes a fixed.stop on the platen frame with which the rotative stops 32 and 33 co-actto arrest the platen in its backward and forward rotative movements. Insetting the stops, in the particular construction shown, the screws areloosened and the platen is turned until the upper edge of the clampingplate 20 is just beneath the spring-pressed rod 19 as shown in Fig. 2.The screws 30 are then tightened to secure the stops in place. The tagsor cards may then be introduced with the bottom ends thereof beneath thespring-pressed rod 19 and forced into place in the receiving pocket 26be tween the upper edge of the clamping plate 20 and the face of theplaten as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. When a row of tags has thus beenintroduced into the machine, the platen may be rotated rearwardly orbackwardly until the stop 32 engages the rod 16 when the platen isarrested against the further backward rotation. At this time the partswill be in positions corresponding to those shown in Fig. 1, with theupper or top end portions of the tags arranged beneath thespring-pressed rod 19 so that the longitudinal row of separate tags ismaintained clamped against the platen, and caused to conform to thecurvature thereof. It will be observed that the disposition. of thestops 32 and 33 is such, with reference to the stop or rod 16 withwhichthey co-act, that the platen will be arrested in its forward rotationbefore-the card clamp 20 reaches the spring-pressed rod 19; and that inthe rear- Ward rotation of the platen it is arrested before the upperends of the tags reach said spring-pressed rod, so that the rod at alltimes remains in coiiperation with the longitudinally disposed row oftags on the platen, and the writing on the tags maybe effected betweenthe card clamp at one side or below the printing line and thespring-pressed rod 19 at the other side or above the printing line. Byturning the rod 16 and holding it by the screws 15 in the positionto'which it may be turned, the pressure of the springs 18 on the rod 19may be varied at will and both springs are simultaneously adjusted to alike degree.

It will be seen that the construction is such that the cards or tags maybe readily intro duced rearwardly into the machine b insertingthebottoms of the tags beneat the spring-pressed rod 19 and into the upperpocket 26 of the card clamp, as indicated in ig. 3. The platen may thenbe rotated rearwardly until the parts are in the position shown in Fig.l. The first line on the first tag may then be written. I The platen isthen line spaced forwardly and the carriage returned to the beginning ofthe line, and the second line on the tag written and so on, completingthe writing on each tag before beginning the next. When the last line ont e first tag has been written the platen may be turned rearwardly untilarrested by the cooperation of the stops 32 and 16 and the first line onthe next tag (counting from left to right) may be written.

Where tabulating mechanism is employed in the machine the tabulatingstops are ordinarily set to correspond to the spacing of the tags. Thatis to say, the column stops will be set to positions corresponding tothe index marks which separate the tags. The tabulator is useful forcontrolling the limits of letter spacing movements for each tag to i bewritten, and for properly positioning the carriage to write upon thenext tag after the previously written tag has been completed.

It will be understood that the spacing between the stops 32 and 33 isdependent on the length of the tags to be used. If tags longer thanthose shown are to. be used the disk 29 may be removed by taking out thescrews 30 and substituting another disk with more widely separated stops32 and 33.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that I haveprovided simple and 'eflicient means for effectively handling aplurality of separate tags and for readily filling in said tags on themachine. By holding the bottom edges of the tags in the manner shown andby the use of the pressure rod 19, the tags may be readily clamped inposition and properly squared and positioned with reference to oneanother and with reference to the platen and may be easily and quicklyhandled.

Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

, 1. In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination of arotative platen, a printing instrumentality that strikes against thefront face of the platen, means attached thereto and rotative therewithand extending longitudinally thereof for holding the bottom ends of aline of tags, and a pressure device arranged above the printing oint andextending longitudinally of the p aten arranged longitudinally thereoffor holding 1 the bottom ends of a line of tags, and a baillike pressuredevice arranged above the printing point and the cross bar of whithextends longitudinally of and bears against the platen for holding theupper portions of said line of tags.

3. In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination of a rotativeplaten, a prin ting instrumentality that strikes a ainst the front faceof the platen, a card clamp carried thereby and into which the bottomedges of cards or tags maybe introduced from above and downwardly infront of the platen, and a spring-pressed rod held against rotativemovement with" the platen and bearing against the platen.

4. In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination of a rotativeplaten, a printing instrumentality that strikes against the front faceof the platen, a card clamp cairried thereby and into which the bottomedges of cards or tags may be introduced from above and downwardly infront of the platen, and a spring-pressed rod which extends throughoutthe length of the platen and bears on the tags when they are introducedinto the clamp.

5. In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination of a rotativeplaten, a card clamp carried thereby and into which the bottom edges ofcards or tags may be introduced from above and downwardly in front ofthe platen, a spring-pressed rod held against rotative movement with theplaten and bearing against the platen, and means for limiting theforward and backward rotation of the platen.

6. In a front-strike typewriting machine,

the combination of a platen, a card clamp reach said rod.

7. In a front-strike typewriting machine, I

the combination of a platen, a card clalrp carried thereby and intowhich the botton edges of cards or tags may be introduced from above anddownwardly in front of the platen, a springpressed rod arranged abo ethe printing line and bearing against the tags as they are introducedinto the clamp, means for arresting the rearward rotaticn of the platenbefore the top ends of the tags reach said rod, and means for arrestingthe forward rotation of the platen before the clamp reaches said rod.

8. In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, acard or tag clamp carried by said platen, a springpressed bar carried bythe platen frame and arranged above the printing line in a position tobear against cards or tags introduced into said clamp, and stops forarresting the platen in its backward rotation before the top ends of thetags reach said rod and for arresting the forward rotation of the platenbefore the card clamp reaches said bar.

9. In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, acard or tag clamp carried by said platen and adapted to hold a row oftags in place, a springpressed bar which extends substantiallythroughout the length of the platen and which is carried by the platenframe and arranged above the printing line in a position to bear againstthe row of cards or tags introduced into said clamp, and stops forarresting the platen in its backward rotation before the top ends of thetags reach said rod and for arresting the forwardrotation of the platenbefore the card clamp reaches the bar, so that the feed movements of thetags are confined to a distance less than the length of the tags.

10. In a frontstrike typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, arod arranged above the platen and having a rotative adjustment, meansfor retaining the rod in its adjusted position, a bail pivoted on saidrod and having a cross bar or rod adapted to bear against the platen,and a coiled spring connectedat one end to said adjustable rod andconnected at the other end to said bail.

11. In a frontstrike ty ewriting machine, the combination of a p aten, arod arranged above the platen and having a rot-ative adjustment, meansfor retaining the rod in its adjusted position, arms which are pivotedon and extend forwardly and downwardly from said rod near the ends ofthe platen, a cross bar connected to and carried by said arms, and aspring connected at one end to said rod and at the other end to one ofsaid arms.

12. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, a rotativeplaten frame, a disk, means for adjust-ably and detachably fixing thedisk to one end of the platen, two stops formed on said disk, and afixed stop on the platen frame with which said first mentioned stopsco-act to limit the rotation of the platen.

13. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, a platenframe, a disk having segmental slots concentric with the axis of theplaten, headed screws that pass through said slots and connect the diskwith a head of the platen, stops on said disk, and a cooperative fixedstop on the platen frame.

14. In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination of a platen;a rotative platen frame; a card or tag clamp carried by the platen; andmeans for limiting the backward and forward rotations of said platen toa distance less than the length of the tags or cards carried by saidclamp, said limiting means comprising a disk, means for adjustably anddetachably fixing the disk to one end of the platen, two stops on saiddisk, and a fixed stop on the platen frame with which said firstmentioned stops co-act to limit the rotation of the platen.

15. In a frontstrike typewriting ma chine, the combination of a platenframe; a

laten; a card clamp carried thereby and lnto which the bottom edges ofcards or tags may be introduced from the front rearwardly into themachine; a springpressed rod held against rotative movement with theplaten and bearing against the platen; and means for arresting theforward and backward rotations of the platen, said arresting meanscomprising a disk, means for adjustably and detachably fixing the diskto one end of the platen, two stops on said disk, and a fixed stop onthe platen frame with which said first mentioned stops co-act to limitthe rotation of the platen.

16. In a frontstrike typewriting machine, the combination of a platenframe; a platen; a card clamp carried thereby and into which the bottomedges of cards or tags may be introduced from the front rearwardly intothe machine; a spring-pressed rod arranged above the printing line andbearing against the tags as they are introduced into the clamp; meansfor arresting the rearward rotation of the platen before the top ends ofthe tags reach said rod; and means for arresting the forward rotation ofthe platen before the clamp reaches said rod, said arresting meanscomprising a disk, means for adjustably and detachably fixing the diskto one end of the platen, two stops on said disk, and a fixed stop onthe platen frame with which said first mentioned stops co-act to limitthe rotation of the platen.

17. In a front -strike typewriting machine, the combination of a platen;a card or tag clamp carried by said platen and adapted to hold a row oftags in place; a spring-pressed bar which extends substantiallythroughout the length of the platen and which is carried by the platenframe and is arranged above the printing line in aposition to bearagainst the row of cards or tags introduced into said. clamp; means forarresting the platen in its backward rotation before the top ends of thetags reach said rod and for arresting the forward rotation of the platenbefore the card clamp Signed at Syracuse in the county of P62161163 therod so that the feed movements Onondaga and State of New York this 26thof the tags are confined to a distance less day of November A. D. 1909.

than the length of the tags, said arresting HERBERT H. STEELE. meanscomprising stop devices adjustably Witnesses:

fixed to the platen and cooperative with said ANNA T. LYNCH,

rod to arrest the platen. Bnssm G. KITTELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. i

